


You Deserve Better, Dumbass

by eternalruins



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves is a Good Brother, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Number Five is a good brother, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Working through feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:53:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26705533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalruins/pseuds/eternalruins
Summary: Five didn’t recognise it, it certainly wasn’t in the house. The garden- no- what was that big stone building at the bottom of it though? Five wracked his brain, he hadn’t been down there in literal decades, had forgotten it even existed. God, Klaus was so little, but his wails were echoing loudly off the walls, clearly utterly distraught. Five’s chest was burning just watching it.The mausoleum. That big, stone tomb full of god knows who, sitting dauntingly at the end of the garden. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself to watch more, to figure it out. That’s what he did, that’s what he always did.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 19
Kudos: 471





	You Deserve Better, Dumbass

Now the apocalypse was averted, Five suddenly found himself with nothing to do. The math was done, he was back home. Albeit in a teenage body which was less than ideal but Five wasn’t sure there was anything he could do about that. Plus he really didn’t want to mess around with the timeline anymore than they already had. The apocalypse hadn’t left much time for hobbies either, Five was too focused on surviving never mind anything else.

So he took to exploring the old man’s office. They were never allowed in it alone when they were kids and it was always kept under a thick lock and key.

That was no worry now at least, Five jumped through the large locked door without a second thought, appearing in front of their father’s desk a moment later.

It was big and pretentious, a dark oak wood with a matching brown armchair. Father was always one for class.

Five spent a good few hours going through the desk alone. Every drawer was locked, some so tightly he had to wrench them open with a crowbar he’d found after ransacking Diego’s room when he was bored one day. It was actually quite satisfying Five found, watching the wood bend open and he rifled through the contents with an almost childish glee.

They were all DVDs. Every single drawer was stacked with them. All dated and numbered. Even little titles, written in Grace’s neat, black handwriting. Five sat back in his father’s big chair with a frown, picking up the first one in the stack. 

It had the number 1 in the corner, the year making them eight years old at the time. _‘Weight Training.’_

This hadn’t been what he was expecting. He wasn’t overly sure what he could expect but he was hoping for a little more excitement than DVDs in his Father’s desk.

Five turned the computer on, slipping the disk into the slot and waited impatiently for it to boot up. He clicked the little icon at the bottom of the screen and Luther’s young, babyish face popped up.

There was a large bar with weights in front of him, much bigger than Luther’s small form. Five saw him flinch when Father’s sharp voice rang from behind the camera. “Pick it up, Number One.” He ordered him.

Five frowned a little. Those weights were _large,_ he couldn’t tell the number from the straightforward angle but obviously much bigger than Luther should be able to lift, even with his power. Not at eight, surely?

But to Five’s utter surprise, Luther nodded with a grim look and wrapped his hands around the bar, lifting it off the ground. Not far, maybe six inches at most but it was much further than Five expected.

Luther dropped it with a gasp, body buckling a little, face beetroot red. The weight banged loudly off the floor as he stumbled backwards, but he'd barely taken a few steps before Father’s voice rang out again.

“Higher!” He barked and _obviously,_ because that’s who Luther was, even at eight years old right down to the core, he moved back to the weight bar and wrapped his hands back around it again. Five pressed pause, didn’t need or want to watch anymore; it would all look the same.

Five continued his way through his other siblings tapes. Diego had to stop various different objects that were thrown at him, some heavy, others sharp or overall dangerous. Diego wasn’t doing well, better than Five thought he would’ve though, especially considering how small he was. Whenever something did hit him, Dad would shout angrily and Diego would flinch so bad more items would smack off him way harder than before. It’d quickly overwhelm him and soon Dad would be bellowing behind the camera.

Allison spoke in different languages during her training. Five recognized French, Spanish _and_ German, rumouring one of their old nannies. It took a few minutes of watching for him to get it; Allison was doing well switching between the various languages but when she did finally falter and the nanny didn’t follow through with the task, Reginald’s voice sounded at once.

“Slap.” He said harshly. Allison’s face stuttered a little but Five was only confused for a moment before Allison turned back to the nanny and whispered. “I heard a rumour you slapped me in the face.”

Instantly the woman turned, the blow to Allison’s cheek _hard,_ sent his sister reeling across the room. Five pulled the disk out with a violent clatter, didn’t need to see anymore, had already witnessed enough of his Father’s creative training methods.

Next was Klaus. He’d never mentioned any specific training to Five before, but Five had never asked. Even before, he’d been so focused on his own powers and abilities he’d completely disregarded everything else. Everyone one else, in fact.

As soon as the dim screen loaded, Five instantly felt a bad feeling pool in his stomach. Klaus was in a dark, stone room, most likely miles away from the gym his other three siblings had been in.

He was huddled in a ball on the floor, eight years old but still _absolutely tiny._ Klaus must have hit his growth spurt after Five had left because the Klaus that he used to know was always smaller than him. He was still loud, personality bubbling out of him regardless of his size. Now that Five understood Klaus’s powers more, he realised it was probably his brother's small way in trying to drown the ghosts out. Klaus was excellent at sparking an argument with someone, easily pushing buttons and aggravating them to shouting levels in minutes.

Five tried hard to ignore the guilt he felt wash over him when he remembered the multiple times he’d yelled at Klaus.

Through the speakers Five could hear Klaus crying, sobbing harshly into his knees. “Dad! Dad, no- please! No- come back!” He was shouting, voice muffled, seeming to refuse to take his face away from his hiding place. Five’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the desk, watching Klaus cry and plead, Reginald’s voice never ringing out once, showing he really had left his little brother there, _alone,_ trapped.

Why though? Where was he? Five didn’t recognise it, it certainly wasn’t in the house. The garden- no- what was that big stone building at the bottom of it though? Five wracked his brain, he hadn’t been down there in literal decades, had forgotten it even existed. God, Klaus was so _little,_ but his wails were echoing loudly off the walls, clearly utterly distraught. Five’s chest was _burning_ just watching it.

 _The mausoleum._ That big, stone tomb full of god knows who, sitting dauntingly at the end of the garden. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself to watch more, to figure it out. That’s what he did, that’s what he always did.

Five moved the mouse, body turning cold when he saw the tape was four hours long. Klaus had been in there for _four hours_ by himself. Five skipped to the last ten minutes of the video, seeing that Klaus was now pressed back against the wall, hands up against his face as he screamed.

“-away from me! Go away!” Klaus’s voice was hoarse and raspy, desperately fighting off- no one. He was still alone, not a single figure in sight on screen. But Klaus was so _afraid_ , so terribly fucking afraid, he wasn’t faking it. Faking it for _who- he was alone._

It hit Five so hard he felt like he’d been physically punched, slumping back in his seat with an exhale. The ghosts. He'd forgotten about the fucking ghosts. Five slammed his fist against the desk, doing it again harder when his hand didn’t hurt bad enough. They’d haunted Klaus his entire childhood and Five had just _forgotten._ And their father had locked Klaus in the mausoleum, full of tombs- dead people- to terrorise him.

A sick feeling swirled in his stomach, watching his little brother through half squinted eyes, still unable to look away despite how hard it was to see. Five’s attention was caught though when he heard the rattle of the lock turning, a strip of light falling over Klaus’s small body.

Klaus flew upright into a sitting position at once, turning away from whoever he was fighting off from before. “You’ve failed your training, Number Four.” Their Father’s voice said coldly off camera. Five’s whole body clenched tightly when he saw the relief that Klaus obviously felt- Five could see the hopeful smile on his face when he realised it was their Father come to collect him- it just flooded out. His whole body deflated as he tucked his head down.

Reginald thundered in, heels clipping loudly off the floor. He gripped Klaus by the top of his arm and yanked him to his feet.

Honestly, Klaus looked absolutely traumatised. Face pale, lip bitten bloody, trembling violently on shaky legs as Father rattled him hard. “Pathetic.” He sneered down his nose. He was so much taller compared to Klaus, looming over him like a bear with its kill.

The video ended after Reginald dragged Klaus out of the room, the door slamming with a bang before the screen turned black. Five was left staring into his own horrified eyes, locked with his own gaze.

That was his training. Hour after hour, Klaus was left with _nightmares_ all alone. Five turned to the drawers again, looking at the dates properly. Reginald locked Klaus in there at least once a week since they were eight onwards. Five opened the next drawer underneath and within a few moments of searching realised the _whole thing_ was Klaus’s. His other siblings had only taken up half a drawer each and Klaus was overflowing out of one and into another.

Closer inspection and Five realised that some of the tapes had multiple dates on them too. Sometimes he’d be in there three nights in a row. The last ones at the bottom had Klaus aged seventeen. Five slipped one into the DVD slot, in a vain hope it would be different. That Father had found something new for his brother, new and less traumatising .

It was a stupid, hopeful thought and this time when the dark screen loaded, Klaus had a clear bottle of vodka in his hand. It was startling to see him this age, Five had never had an image before. Unkempt curly hair and thick black eyeliner around his eyes, even back then. He cheersed the camera with a brazen smile before knocking the cap off the bottle and taking a large swig. Ben must have snapped at him because when Klaus turned to talk to air again, he was giggling and shushing it with a wide, placating smile. He lent his head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling, letting out a heavy sigh. Five watched the smile quickly slide off Klaus’s face, his eyes scrunching up in pain for a moment before he brought the bottle back to his mouth and took a much larger sip than he did last time.

Seeing _enough,_ Five pressed pause before checking the length of the video again, his heart dropping right to his stomach when he saw it was over ten hours long. He jabbed the off button violently on the computer, seriously contemplated throwing the monitor off the wall. His hands were shaking hard, anger burning hot through his skin. Fucking _Hargreeves,_ he’d been hurting Klaus, _traumatising him,_ for years and Five hadn’t known. Years and Five hadn’t known, hadn’t been smart enough to figure it out in the first place. Been so wrapped up in himself the whole time he hadn’t noticed how Klaus was nose-diving it off the deep end. Even before he’d left the warning signs were there- Klaus rolled joints at the fucking dinner table _of course something was wrong._

They’d said he was looking for attention.

But that’s what Klaus _let_ them believe. One conversation and all that bullshit would’ve been blown wide open.

Five dropped his head into his hands, gripping his hair between his fingers. The anger was still there, swirling away in his chest, trying to cloud his judgement. He needed to think straight, think of a plan of some sort. Five wanted to believe he was just angry at their Father but he _wasn’t._ Why hadn’t Klaus told him? Any of them? Just let himself suffer in there, didn’t fight- _nothing._

Fuck he had to find him, had to talk to him. Find out why he’d just let himself be _left_ in there. Five’s brain was racing, clogging over with emotions that he couldn’t even _name- fuck_ that video was _awful,_ Klaus was so small, so traumatised and he hadn’t told them!

His hands were glowing blue before he properly thought about it, jumping himself to the kitchen. He wasn’t sure why it was the first place he thought of- was almost worse when he heard Klaus’s _voice,_ calling with glee from behind him.

Five spun round, wild eyes falling on his brother, alone at the table with a wide grin on his face, sitting with his legs crossed in his chair. “Hi Five and Dimes! How is the family assassin doing today?” He crowed, eyes ringed in black eyeliner, wearing a vest top and army jacket that Dad would’ve _hated._ Klaus lived to spite the old man, even when he was still alive and yet he never fucking _told them._

All Five could do was stare, chest heaving, mind racing a mile a minute, pure _anger_ running through him at everyone, everything. Mainly that drawer overflowing with tapes upstairs.

“Five?” Klaus asked again, frowning a little, glancing at the chair beside him. _Oh right,_ Five forgot about Ben again. Klaus wasn’t always alone after all, he supposed. No- no, actually that wasn’t good enough, Ben died when they turned fifteen so that meant Klaus was still in there for _seven years_ by himself.

“Are you alright?” Klaus’s voice caught his attention again, made him realise how hard he was clenching his hands into fists, how he hadn’t actually said anything since he’d jumped into the room.

“No.” Five finally answered, whole body rigid, tone dead flat as he stared hard at Klaus’s face. Klaus raised his eyebrows, clearly confused, eyes quickly flicking to Ben again. Five was really hoping Ben was saying something helpful to him since right now it was taking all of willpower not to turn and suckerpunch one of the cabinet.

“Wanna tell me about it?” Klaus asked, voice softer now, face devoid of any joke. He nodded his head pointedly to the seat to the other side of him, opposite Ben at the table. Five let out a hard breath, forcing his shoulders down before pulling his hands in close, jumping to his seat.

He was hoping the jump would burn away some of the rage, the urge for blood and violence, for someone to _pay_. It didn’t work and Five was as furious as ever sat across from his brother.

Klaus looked very surprised this time, startling away a little when he reappeared so close. Five realised belatedly he hadn’t answered Klaus’s question. He supposed it was fair his brother was so shocked he’d actually agreed to this.

“So uh- what happened? Someone die? Did you kill someone? Oh god- you’ve found another mannequin haven’t you? Finally found love again after Dolores.” Klaus babbled, probably trying to fill the strained silence between the two of them but Five ignored his comments with years of practice, couldn’t stop glaring instead. His whole body was stiff with tension, deathly still against the chair.

“I found DVDs in Dad’s desk.” Five finally spoke again, gritted out between clenched teeth. Klaus’s face dropped, nose wrinkling a little.

“Oh gross- don’t say you found Dad’s porn stash.” He giggled, so _easy and relaxed when Five was losing his fucking mind._

“I found training videos. Dad had half a drawer of DVDs of Luther lifting weights.” Five cut in, voice hard making Klaus stutter a little. “He had half a drawer for Diego, throwing various items at him to stop. Then, a half drawer for Allison.” Klaus still hadn’t caught on yet Five could tell, but that was alright, if he had to spell it out for his brother then he would.

“Allison had to rumour a nanny to do things in different languages. And you Klaus-” Five paused, remembering for a moment, suddenly saw it all click behind Klaus’s eyes. He went rigid in his seat, looking stricken. Five soldiered on regardless.

“-You had a full drawer and a half, from when you were _eight till seventeen,_ of being locked in the mausoleum.” Five was fighting to keep his voice level, was seconds away from exploding, watching Klaus fidget in his seat. He was refusing to look at Five, staring instead at his fingers, sucking in his bottom lip for a moment. Klaus finally shrugged, looking up.

“Yeah, so?” He mumbled.

Five saw red.

“ _Are you fucking kidding me!_ ” He shouted, standing up from his chair with a loud scraping noise. “How can you say that? That’s nine years Klaus, five of which I was _here for._ And you never told me! Never told any of us!” Five wanted to grab him, shake some goddamn sense into him. He wouldn’t, was scared he’d snap Klaus’s head clean off his shoulders if he did. Klaus was cowering in his seat away from him, eyes panicked as he stuttered.

“Look it’s fine! It was in the past, I’m all good now!” He said, waving his hands placatingly, the black ink winking tauntingly back at Five. Five growled hard, throwing himself back into his seat before he really did lean over and smack Klaus, gripped his elbows instead just to make sure he didn’t.

“You’re a fucking stick bug drug addict Klaus, that isn’t _‘all good.’_ ” Five mocked, huffing in frustration. Klaus made an indignant noise, folding his arms across his chest.

“Okay, first off.” He said, holding up one finger. “That was rude. Second of all, I don’t get what you’re so upset about. It was training, that’s all it was. You don’t need to make such a big deal over it.” He shrugged, _again,_ still so indifferent about it all, like it hadn’t fucking broken Five’s heart seeing Klaus sob for hours, desperately fighting off mangled corpses no one could save him from.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Five asked again adamantly. He needed to know, needed to know how he’d missed it. Why hadn’t he seen it? Had he passed it off that easily?

Klaus chuckled mirthlessly, a sound that set Five’s skin on edge, before he looked up at him again, tipping his head back against the chair. Five’s mind flashed to the image of Klaus, seventeen, drunk in a fucking house of tombs, trapped for ten hours straight and he shuddered hard.

“Would you have believed me even if I had told you?” He asked quietly. Five’s whole body went cold and he stared in horror back at his brother.

“Of course I would have! Klaus I- I watched the fucking DVDs. You were a _kid-_ I wouldn’t have just left you to that. I never would’ve done that to you.” Five gasped, felt like he was practically confessing, voice pathetically small. He knew he wasn’t very affectionate, never was even when they were younger. But he still _cared_ about his siblings. Had done awful things just to get back to them. Five hunched down lower in his seat, now felt absolutely tiny in his young body, shouting at his brother like a child.

“It wasn’t your job to save me, Five.” Klaus said, smile genuine and forgiving. It made Five feel a little sick, like a massive hypocrite. “I didn’t expect you to. And if I had told you then you would’ve gotten yourself into trouble tryna help me.” Klaus said, still smiling, a lot more relaxed now. Five wasn’t, not at all so he wasn’t sure why Klaus was.

He scoffed, folding his arms tightly. “I didn’t care about getting into trouble. I never did, you know that. He left you in there for hours. Hours of- of ghosts- dead people.” Five breathed out heavily, tried to push the image out of his head. He couldn’t and the next words popped out of his mouth without much thought. 

“You looked traumatised. And so _small._ It just-” Five sighed, whole body deflating as he scrubbed hard at his face. “It was hard to watch.”

He was staring at the wall now, couldn’t quite face the situation he’d managed to create. Klaus made a soft humming noise, leaning forward to gently squeeze Five’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, old man.” He said, voice so sincere Five almost believed him. “It’s over now.”

Those words triggered something in Five’s brain, suddenly felt like a bucket of icy water had been tipped down his back as his mind sprung back to the vodka bottle in Klaus’s hand. When he was seventeen. Seventeen and ready to dive head first off the wagon.

Five shook his head forcefully, mind suddenly slotting together _everything._ It made sense now, he’d just _missed_ it. Klaus’s drug problem, the insomnia even as kids, the desperate need to be high all the time.

It all stemmed from the mausoleum. From Dad’s special _fucking_ training.

Anger seared through his veins again and Five fought not to flip the table in front of them. “No- no!” Five shouted, Klaus’s hand jerking from his shoulder as he threw himself back in his seat, hands fisting his hair. “No it isn’t over! Never was. You think you would’ve become an addict if you hadn’t been locked in there in the first place?” Five demanded, chest heaving, vision tinted red as he remembered their Father’s cold, cruel voice chastising his brother, Klaus’s young face breaking all over again.

“That only happened because I was weaker than the rest of you.” Klaus muttered quietly, voice dripping in self-loathing. “I couldn’t cope and drugs were easier. Just the way it went, mi hermano.” Klaus sighed, clearly already accepting the fate he’d been handed out so harshly.

A bolt of lightning went right down Five’s spine, making him go ramrod straight, staring at Klaus like he’d just grown an extra head. Before he could open his mouth to argue the sheer _ridiculousness_ coming out of Klaus, he was cut off.

“Look, I get it. It’s awful and traumatising and _whatever._ But the point is I didn’t _learn_ anything, did I? Thirty years later and I still can’t do jackshit with my powers. Hell, maybe if it was worse I could’ve been better.”

Five’s jaw dropped, staring at his brother, absolutely _horrified_ that Klaus thought he could deserve that. That it was normal and he’d _failed._ That it should’ve been worse, like that was even possible in the first place.

Silence fell between the two of them, Five still ripping apart Klaus’s words inside his head, analysing every little detail he could. His anger was forgotten, at least momentarily, the ache in his chest much more prominent. The last time his heart had broken like this he had been leaving Dolores behind in a shopping mall.

Fuck, Five hadn’t realised how broken Klaus really was. His brother put up a good front, one that rarely wavered. Not like it was now, his usual smile replaced with a nervous frown, eyebrows pulled down, hunched in so small in his seat. God, he wished he could’ve been there. Five would have helped, would’ve done something to save his brother. Wants to believe he wouldn’t have left him to rot on the streets, trying to block out the nightmares.

Five bit his lip hard, aggravated by the tears that had sparked in his eyes. “You didn’t _deserve_ it Klaus. You were so _little_ and _scared_ I- I just wished I could’ve helped you. And- I’m so _sorry_ he did that to you.” Five wiped his eyes fiercely, whole chest caving inwards with every exhale. He felt exhausted, blinking away the wetness collecting on his lashes, looking away from his brother, worried he’d break if he saw Klaus’s dejected face.

He almost jumped when Klaus gripped his shoulders again, this time on both sides and pulled him against his chest. Five gasped in surprise and brought his arms up around Klaus’s back, trying desperately hard not to cry. He had no idea how this had turned into Klaus comforting him, just proved even further Five definitely wasn’t qualified to be having this discussion, should’ve realised that from the start.

“You really do care, dontcha yah little guy?” Klaus hummed warmly, patting Five’s back which _definitely_ wasn’t helping him not to cry. Five huffed wetly against Klaus’s shoulder, nodding his head.

“Of course I do, dumbass.” He said, but his voice was strained and didn’t have any heat behind it. He didn’t even shake Klaus off when he ruffled his hair.

“It’s a fucked situation but at least I know you understand now. That you believe me.” 

Five nodded forcefully, forehead knocking off Klaus’s collarbone.

“Yeah, I believe you.”

Klaus squeezed him harder, sighing contently. “Well then that’s a pretty solid start for me.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love angry emotional Five who doesn't know how to handle- anything really.
> 
> Lemme know if you liked it!


End file.
